Package of smoking articles

ABSTRACT

A combination including a package with a top, a bottom, and at least one side wall which define an interior space. The side wall has a tear line extending across the side wall substantially midway between the top and the bottom and parallel to the top and bottom. A plurality of tobacco articles are arranged in the interior of the package so as to extend from the top to the bottom. Each tobacco article has a filter with two ends and a tobacco element extending from each end of the filter. The tobacco elements have equal lengths so that the filter is substantially midway between the top and the bottom of the package. Each filter has a tear line midway along a length of the filter, which tear line corresponds to the tear line in the side wall of the package. The tear lines are provided in the package side wall and the smoking elements so that a separation force applied to the tear line of the package also serves to separate the filters.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to smoking articles, such as cigarettes or cigars, and more particularly to a package for smoking articles and a combination of the package with smoking articles.

Society today is placing greater and greater restrictions on where individuals can smoke cigarettes, particularly indoors. In many municipalities, smoking is completely prohibited in office buildings and restaurants. Workers and patrons are therefore forced to go outdoors to smoke a cigarette. Normally, particularly for employees, there is a limited amount of time for them to smoke a cigarette before they must return to work. When smoking conventional cigarettes, this results in smoking only a portion of the entire cigarette. The remaining unsmoked portion of the cigarette is then either discarded or somehow saved for later use. This results in either wasting a portion of the cigarette, which in today's market is quite expensive, or attempting to store a partially-burned cigarette which entails saving the dirty, burned cigarette somewhere for later use.

This problem has been addressed to a degree in the past, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,434 discloses a breakable cigarette with a slidable holder. In this patent, a cigarette holder and the cigarette are broken in two. Once the holder and cigarette are broken in half, the user must slide the holder completely across the cigarette to the opposite end where it engages a flange to be held in place.

A number of other patents are known in the art, i.e., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,391,699; 2,968,305; 2,979,058; and 609,741, which show two full-length cigarettes connected by a filter or mouthpiece which is then cut in half to separate the cigarettes. However, none of this prior art provides a simple and easy to assemble cigarette which allows a smoker to smoke a half-length cigarette.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a package of smoking articles that can be selectively broken at a midpoint to provide two smaller packages of smoking articles, complete with filters.

Pursuant to this object, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one aspect of the present invention resides in the combination of a package and smoking articles contained in the package, wherein the package and the smoking articles are simultaneously dividable into two equal halves so as to create two separate packages of smoking articles which are equal to substantially half of the length of the original smoking articles.

In another embodiment of the invention, the smoking articles are initially formed to have a length and weight of a conventional cigarette, however, the filter of the cigarette is arranged at the middle of the cigarette so that a rod shaped tobacco element extends from each end of the filter. The midpoint of the filter is perforated, cut, or has a tear line so that the filter can be split in two to form two shorter cigarettes with two shorter filters.

The package for the cigarettes also has a tear line or perforation around its midsection which corresponds to the tear line in the filters contained in the package. In this way, the package and the smoking articles contained therein can be divided in two simultaneously along the tear lines. By breaking or separating the package and smoking articles in two the user ends up with two shorter smoking articles from each initial smoking article. The smoking articles can of course be, for example, cigarettes or cigars.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as to its construction and method of operation together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 with the package and smoking articles in a split condition;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a view as in FIG. 3 with the package completely separated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIG. 1, the invention includes a package 1 having a tear line 2 in its side walls at a point substantially midway between the top 3 and the bottom 4 of the package 1. The tear line 2 can be formed by, for example, perforations, cuts, or indentations in the side walls. In the illustrated embodiment, the tear line extends along only three side walls of the package 1. However, the perforation can also extend along all four side walls of the package. The perforation 2 is such that the package which is generally made of paper or thin cardboard can be easily broken along the perforation so that the package forms two package halves 1 a, 1 b. If the perforation extends completely around the package, the package halves 1 a, 1 b can be completely separated as shown in FIG. 4. The package itself can have any shape which will accommodate smoking articles such as cigarettes and cigars. For example, the package can be cylindrical.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section through the non-separated package 1. As can be seen here, cigarettes 5 are arranged in the package 1. Each of the cigarettes has two tobacco elements 6 that extend from a centrally located filter 7. The tobacco elements 6 have a length equal to that of a conventional cigarette so that the overall package 1 is the size of a conventional pack of cigarettes. The filter 7 of each cigarette has a tear line, here perforation 8, that extends substantially midway through the filter 7 and corresponds to the perforation 2 in the side walls of the package 1. The perforations in the cigarettes are such that when the two halves of the package are broken apart the filter 7 is split in two so that each cigarette is broken into two smaller cigarettes that have a length equal to substantially half the length of a conventional cigarette, which length is made up of a tobacco element 6 and a filter 7 a, that is half the original filter 7. It is also possible to separate the cigarettes prior to arranging them in the package 1. In this way, in order to break the package in two it is not necessary to separate the cigarettes contained in the package.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the perforation only extends along three side walls of the package 1. The fourth side wall is provided with a crease 9 that extends between the ends of the perforation at the edges of the fourth sidewall so as to form a fold line or hinge along which the non-perforated side wall of the package 1 can be bent. This construction allows the package to be opened to expose the split cigarettes contained therein to allow access to the cigarettes. Once access is no longer required, the two halves of the package can be folded back together to protect the cigarettes contained therein.

The present invention provides the benefit that a smoker who is pressed for time or does not for another reason desire to smoke an entire conventional cigarette has the opportunity to smoke less than a conventional cigarette in a clean and hygienic manner. The invention also provides the benefit that it is no longer necessary to throw away any unconsumed remaining portion of a partially-smoked full length cigarette or store such an unhygienic, previously-used item for later use. This allows the smoker to save money by not wasting unused tobacco, requiring the purchase of additional cigarettes, and also provides the benefit of a fresh, shorter cigarette for smoking at a later time as opposed to a previously semi-consumed cigarette.

While the invention has been illustrated and described above, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, merely constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.

What is claimed is new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent as set forth in the appended claims. 

1. A combination, comprising: a package with a top, a bottom, and at least one side wall which define an interior space, the side wall having a tear line extending across the side wall substantially midway between the top and the bottom and parallel to the top and bottom; and a plurality of tobacco articles arranged in the interior of the package so as to extend between the top to the bottom, each tobacco article having a filter with two ends and a tobacco element extending from each end of the filter, the tobacco elements having equal lengths so that the filter is substantially midway between the top and the bottom of the package, each filter having a tear line midway along a length of the filter, which tear line corresponds to the tear line in the side wall of the package, the tear lines being provided in the package side wall and the smoking elements so that a separation force applied to the tear line of the package also serves to separate the filters.
 2. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the package has four side walls and the tear line extends along three of the side walls.
 3. The combination as defined in claim 2, wherein the side wall without the tear line has a fold line extending between ends of the tear line at the side edges of the side wall with the fold line.
 4. The combination as defined in claim 2, wherein the tear line extends along all four side walls so that the package is separatable into two parts.
 5. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear line is formed by perforations in the wrapper.
 6. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear line is scored into the package.
 7. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the package is made of paper.
 8. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear lines in the filters are formed by indentations.
 9. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear lines in the filters are formed by perforations.
 10. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the tear line in the package is formed by indentations.
 11. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein twenty smoking articles are arranged in the package.
 12. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the smoking articles are cigarettes.
 13. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the smoking articles are cigars.
 14. A combination, comprising: a package with a top, a bottom and at least one side wall which define an interior space, the side wall having a tear line extending across the side wall substantially midway between the top and the bottom and parallel to the top and the bottom; and a plurality of tobacco articles arranged in the interior of the package, each tobacco article having a filter and a tobacco element, the tobacco articles being arranged in pairs stacked filter to filter in the package so that each pair of tobacco articles extends from the top to the bottom of the package and the contact surfaces of the abutting tobacco article filters are substantially in a region of the tear line in the side wall of the package.
 15. The combination as defined in claim 14, wherein 40 smoking articles are arranged in the package. 